Image Help - - Colorized old photo but need input re: skin tones

solitear · #1 11-10-2006, 01:12 AM

Hi All......

This is an old photo of my sweet mother-in-law (on the left) and her sister. It was taken in 1943 and I've colorized it but something seems 'lacking' .... maybe they're too pasty or something ........ I've even made one with a final Soft Light layer but hubby says to use the first, softer one to have printed (just 5 x 7 sized).......

What should I do........ start over ????

Thanks,
Beth

solitear · #2 11-10-2006, 01:16 AM

Here's the second one with the added Soft Light layer......

Thanks to anyone with some ideas!

Beth

CathyH · #3 11-10-2006, 06:11 AM

Hi Beth
That is a lovely photo. Are They twins?

I like the skin tone on the first one best. Have you tried to add some saturation just to the skin?

And maybe tone down the dress? That is just an opinion. I think you have done a great job.

Cathy

solitear · #4 11-10-2006, 08:45 AM

Hi Cathy,

I haven't tried to saturate the skin more but when you mentioned toning down the dress I thought 'Aha' I'll bet that's a huge part of my problem...... and I'm going to try that......

The two are sisters, but not twins...... both 'girls' are still, to this day, just stunning........ and my mother-in-law is someone I just love and have so much fun with!

Thank you for your help and sweet comment...... I'd lost my perspective after so much time with this one.

Beth

dkcoats · #5 11-10-2006, 09:56 AM

When I colorize I usually wind up with two or even three layers for the skin: one in color mode, always, and often layers in soft light and/or overlay. Latter two normally at pretty low opacities.

I'd say you've done a nice job here. But you're right that the skin tones are a little off, I think.

I opened your image and converted to cmyk. There's too much cyan and a little too much yellow in the skin. I corrected that with a curves layer, copy/merged and changed that to overlay mode at low opacity and masked out everything but the skin. Then I added a new layer at the top and airbrushed in some pink here and there (This alone can often make a huge difference). I wound up duplicating this layer several times, changing to overlay and cutting back on the opacity. (Never tried that before)

It's pretty quick and dirty (didn't have my tablet hooked up and don't have a lot of time) and I may have gone overboard on the skin tones.

Hope this helps
David

Daviskw · #6 11-10-2006, 10:50 AM

Hi Beth

I think you did an excellent job. To me the problem is the harsh light. It is always hard to make this type of picture look natural.

I think the combination of harsh light and fading has produced false colors in the dresses and background.

Maybe just an overall darkening and increase in saturation would help.

Butch

solitear · #7 11-10-2006, 11:08 AM

David....... thanks so much........ when I first opened your version I thought 'I don't see much difference' so I opened mine next to yours and, man, there it was!!! hehehehe

I did notice that my posted one looked more cyan than it looks in PS ..... I've got to get some kind of color callibrating help....... do you convert your color profile before posting?

All that aside, I'm going to put your full method to the test....... after I started this thread, I came across something that mentioned what you did...... adding in some pink...... I tried that last night and it made a big difference so I'm going to attempt your suggestions.......

I noticed too..... your change to CMYK....... seems I know this is excellent for working with color but have no clue as to why.....

Thank you so much for your help ...... I get to spend all day today playing with this!

Beth

dkcoats · #8 11-10-2006, 12:33 PM

Beth,
You may have seen this thread:
http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/pho...-cymk-rgb.html
or not. There's a whole lot of stuff there about pros and cons of various color modes.
When playing with your image I didn't pay any attention to profiles.
David

CJ Swartz · #9 11-10-2006, 01:23 PM

Beth, just something else for you to try with your lovely ladies. A strong flash was used which flattened out their facial features -- so much light didn't allow for natural shadowing on their faces. So I added fill-flash. (Usually this is done when there is too much shadowing on facial features such as when photos are taken outdoors in the middle of the day, or late afternoon with their backs to the sun.) I copied a layer, desaturated it, inverted it (so that the dark areas of the layer would correspond with the light areas on the original layer), added a bit of gaussian blur, and set the layer blend to Overlay. This adds some depth to the image, and shows the highlights in their hair. There are various methods of creating the effect -- curves, shadow masking, etc., but you can get a feel for whether you like the look by this method.

I also added a Selective Color adjustment layer and reduced the amount of Yellow in the skin. Yellow values are supposed to be about 5% higher than the Magenta on skin. See what you think.

solitear · #10 11-10-2006, 02:42 PM

CJ....... never in a million years would I have thought of Fill Flash..... I have a tutorial and have used it before but ..... what an idea on this picture and great results, too!

I'm glad I posted this here, knowing you guys can 'see' things and, CJ, one of your comments caused me to go back to my original scan and, after looking at it..... then looking at my version, you, and others, were right about the harsh light ....... except I realized that somewhere along the way I'd blasted the contours out of their faces........ hehehe.....

I'm posting the original scan with nothing done......

Thanks so much for your help and 'eyes'

Beth

Gosh..... almost forgot....... the only color direction I can give is that their dresses were a 'dusty rose' color......

solitear · #11 11-10-2006, 03:04 PM

Butch....... your skin tones look beautiful on my monitor...... now, that may or may not be a compliment

I feel sheepish since I'd forgotten to say their dresses were a 'dusty rose' color......... that, combined with my harsh lighting is causing me my own trouble...... ha!

Thank you for your help I've got quite the toolbox now!

Beth

solitear · #12 11-10-2006, 03:09 PM

Thanks David for the link...... think I'll go visit there....

Beth

Kraellin · #13 11-10-2006, 03:15 PM

hi beth,

the skin tones lack a bit of red 'blush', particularly for contrasting. the faces are a bit monotone. some reddish shading would do wonders.

the ruffles of the dresses in shadow look a bit over-saturated also.

you're not far off on either point. a little will go a long ways on both points.

solitear · #14 11-10-2006, 03:27 PM

Hi Craig....... you're right about the reddish tones...... last night I added some to my version but didn't upload it because now...... I think I'm leaning towards re-doing it....... and, you have a keen eye because when I was coloring their dresses, I added a gradient map to that layer which caused the dresses to be very saturated at the bottom......

You just can't put anything over on you guys!

Beth

Daviskw · #15 11-10-2006, 04:49 PM

Hi Beth

I long ago decided to match my monitor with my printer since I print mostly at home and the heck with the net

Here is a trick... put your photo away for a few days. Then with fresh eyes open your photo and make note of your first impression... write it down and make corrections. Do this at least one more time until your first impressions of skin tone is on.

Do the same with a print if you print at home.

I would not worry about how much of this color and that color for the correct blend. There are just too many variations of skin tone to make any one THE tone.

I have found that working on a tone for too long messes up color perception. You are better off closing it for awhile. You will be surprised at the color castes you will catch that way.

Butch